About us

Our mission is to provide high quality care for our patients and their owners at all times

• With four veterinary centres and a flagship veterinary hospital we provide convenient pet health care to every part of Plymouth
• We provide appointments seven days a week, with no daytime surcharge on Saturdays or Sunday mornings for our clients
• We provide 24 hour care, 365 days a year at our veterinary hospital, with resident veterinary and nursing care for inpatients and emergencies
• We have a money saving Healthy Pets Club which enables pet owners to spread the cost of preventative health care over the whole year. This includes 10% discounts and a monthly payment scheme
• Our team are friendly and compassionate and we treat every pet and owner as an individual, with the emphasis on quality of life
• We pride ourselves in our high standards of clinical care. Our veterinary nurses also provide puppy classes and training, weight management programmes, healthcare plans and medical clinics.
• Our vets have a wide range of special clinical interests including certificate holders in surgery, behaviour, dermatology, cardiology and radiology, and we accept referrals from all over the south west.

John Bower purchased the business as a one-man veterinary practice 1969. Since then the practice has grown and as well as our flagship Veterinary Hospital we have Veterinary Centres at Lipson, Plympton, Plymstock and St Budeaux. Although there are now many team members, consisting of vets, nurses, receptionists, office staff, cleaners and even a handyman, we strive to provide a personal service with attention to the individual needs of every pet and owner. We encourage owners to develop a rapport with their local veterinary centre and to maintain continuity by making appointments with the vet they know and like best, whenever possible.

The three owners of the group now are Adam Coulson, Stephen O'Shea and Caroline Bower. Adam Coulson and Stephen O'Shea have certificates in Veterinary Radiology and Cardiology respectively. Caroline Bower is one of the few vets in Britain to hold the Diploma in Pet Behaviour Counselling.

Several other veterinary associates have also achieved certificates which greatly enhance the clinical skills we can offer. Sanjaya Kanagasundaram is particularly interested in skin problems and holds the Certificate in Veterinary Dermatology, and Katie Lenton is our senior surgeon and holds the Certificate in Small Animal Surgery.

We encourage all our vets to continue to develop their special skills through further clinical education courses; indeed it is a requirement of our Veterinary Hospital status that both vets and veterinary nurses carry out a statutory amount of continuing professional development every year. Our special interests enable us to help you and your pets, and our certificate holders receive referrals from other veterinary practices in the South West. We would be delighted to send you a copy of our practice brochure on request.

RCVS Accreditation

Our practice is accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) with the Hospital being rated Tier 3 and the other centres Tier 2.

The RCVS Practice Standards Scheme (PSS) is a voluntary initiative to accredit veterinary practices in the UK.  Through setting standards and carrying out regular inspections, the Scheme aims to promote and maintain the highest standards of veterinary care.

It offers peace of mind to clients of accredited practices and more informed choice to the animal-owning public.

To become accredited, practices volunteer for rigorous inspection every four years and will have met a range of minimum standards including hygiene, 24-hour emergency cover, staff training, certain types of equipment and cost
estimation procedures. They may also be subject to spot-checks between inspections.

For peace of mind, people should look for the RCVS accredited practice logo, which indicates that the practice has passed an independent inspection. This means high standards of care for pets and peace of mind for pet owners.

What is a Veterinary Hospital?

This text is reproduced with the kind permission of the British Veterinary Hospitals Association (BVHA):

"BVHA Hospital members have voluntarily agreed to have an intensive examination and inspection of their practices. This inspection is carried out by independent inspectors appointed by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), our governing body. The inspection covers a whole range of issues relating to the care of patients - for example the continuing education of staff, the provision of anaesthetic monitoring and laboratory equipment, the quality of radiographic (X-ray) facilities and the quality of the case records. It also covers the physical aspects of the buildings - for example the provision of isolation facilities to prevent the spread of disease from infectious patients.

One of the most important aspects of a Veterinary Hospital is that they have members of staff on the premises 24 hours a day. These members of the veterinary team are specifically responsible for the care of any in-patients. In many non-hospital veterinary practices there is no-one on the premises after the end of evening surgery or over weekends. This means that there is no-one on the premises to look after any patients that are kept in overnight. No-one to notice that an i/v drip line has become blocked, a patient has started to vomit or is showing pain.

If your pet has to be admitted for veterinary treatment - we are sure that most caring owners would like to know that there is someone there to look after them. The ability to provide 24 hour veterinary and nursing care is a major cost for Veterinary Hospitals, their prices may have to reflect this. However it is one of the strongest reasons to choose a BVHA member Veterinary Hospital to look after your animals, not just for emergencies, but for routine care and vaccinations as well."

Investors in People

We have just been reassessed and promoted to an Investors in People Bronze status award and are very proud of this extra accolade from the IiP people.

Businesses work hard to gain IiP recognition, which is awarded for training and development of staff, good communication and strong leadership. The Bronze award is the next step up from the basic standard.

The IiP assessor gave credit to the Veterinary Hospital for having a strong culture of learning for their team, in particular vets and nurses, with an emphasis on personal development. Regular appraisals, assessments, supervision of students and new employees, and a culture of learning and sharing of knowledge make it a stimulating workplace for those who work hard and enjoy a challenge.

The practice seeks regular customer feedback by working with client focus groups and through reception-based questionnaires, and the team strive to deliver high standards of care to pets and their owners at all times.